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After years of barging over husky defenders on the gridiron, ex-Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown is attempting to tackle two serious video game heavyweights in court. According to Bloomberg, Brown has filed suit against Sony Computer Entertainment America and Electronic Arts over using his likeness in the popular Madden football series. He seeks a court order preventing either company from continuing to use his likeness in the franchise as well as damages stemming from trademark violation. At issue is the starting running back on Madden's "All Browns Team." The character is African-American and bears the same jersey number Brown...

She's plump, powerful and ready to cause more controversy than "SuperSize Me." She's Fat Princess, the star of Sony's upcoming video game of the same name. Debuting at last week's E3 expo, the colorful Fat Princess is a capture-the-flag game with a twist: you can thwart capture attempts by locking the once-thin princess in a dungeon and stuffing her full of cake, thereby increasing her girth and making her harder for your enemies to haul back to home base. According to popular gaming blog Joystiq, two feminist gaming sites have already voiced their displeasure with the weighty issue. Feminist Gamer's...

LOS ANGELES - In a bid to regain lost ground in the fiercely competitive gaming business, Sony announced Tuesday that it will cut the price of its high-end PlayStation 3 console by $100. It also will introduce downloads of movies and TV shows to the game machine's online store and, with some software partners, roll out a number of exclusive games. The moves suggested that Sony still views Microsoft as its chief rival rather than market leader Nintendo, which seems focused on extending its lead. But, of course, that's not how Sony brass portrayed its announcements at a press event...

Sony has pulled the latest PlayStation 3 firmware update after complaints that it is causing problems with the game console and sometimes bricking (cannot function in any capacity) PS3s. It's unclear how widespread the problem is. Sony claims problems with its PS3 firmware (2.4) have only affected an isolated number of customers' machines. There have been a number of people on the Sony PS3 forums who have described problems with the PS3 update made available just yesterday. One camp of PS3 users complain of their consoles are freezing up. Others have had better luck, but report once the firmware has...

There’s some idea out there in the world that Will Smith "owns" the July 4 holiday weekend in terms of box office. I guess this is because of "Independence Day," one of my favorite movies, and "Men in Black," also quite good, released, respectively, in 1996 and 1997 on that weekend. Alas, all good hype must come to an end. "Hancock," with which Sony is hoping to have a merry July 4, 2008, may not duplicate Smith’s previous successes. It is one of the worst family holiday weekend releases of recent memory — and jaw-droppingly so. And that’s hard to...

Think you paid too much for your Playstation 3? Don't expect any sympathy from Sony. In the company's fiscal 2008 annual report, Sony revealed that they've now lost roughly $3.3 billion (that's billion with a B) on the Playstation 3 since its launch. That breaks down to $2.16 billion in 2007, followed by a notably smaller but equally daunting $1.16 billion loss in 2008.

Fathers Eugene O'Hagan, his brother Martin and David Delargy London, Apr 25, 2008 / 01:27 am (CNA).- Three Catholic priests from Northern Ireland have signed a recording contract worth nearly $2 million for the music giant Sony BMG.Fathers Eugene O’Hagan, 48, his brother Martin, 45, and their old school friend David Delargy, 44, signed the deal near the steps of Westminster Cathedral.  The three men, who call their trio “The Priests,” said they would donate the money made from the music to charity.The three priests developed their musical talent at St. MacNissi’s College in County Antrim.  There, they were...

Sony has begun offering Fresh Start, a controversial practice to clean its systems of unnecessary software. Initially available only with the VAIO TZ ultraportable, the option removes both VAIO-specific programs as well as games and other trial software. The practice is meant to "free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power" before the system ever leaves the factory, according to Sony. However, the offer has already received criticism for its $50 cost, which lifts the price of the system despite restoring the performance that would be present with a default installation of Windows. The practice has...

Intel Corp. may release six-core microprocessors as early as in the second half of this year, according to a number of media reports. However, if those claims are correct, then it may mean not only another powerful central processing unit for Intel and a threat to chips from Advanced Micro Devices, but also a further delay in unification of Intel Itanium and Intel Xeon platforms. Intel needs a chip to update its multi-processor (MP) enterprise server platform this year as no Nehalem-based microprocessor for the MP market segment is planned for 2008... However, it seems like unified Quick Path Interconnect...

Only a day after Toshiba pulled HD DVD from the high-definition DVD business, conceding defeat in a long-running format war with Sony's Blu-ray, the company has officially finalized a previously announced $835M joint venture with its rival that will help lower PS3 production costs. The joint venture, to be named at a later date, will manufacture Cell chips and RSX graphic chips, both used in the PS3, as well as other microchips that go into Toshiba products. With this, Sony is trying to streamline its operations by getting rid of assets which it simply does not need or are not...

The first factor that needs to be put completely to one side is picture quality. Unless you are a technology geek with a television the size of a multiplex cinema screen, there is no difference between the output of HD DVD and Blu-ray machines. Both offer high definition DVD playback superior to standard DVD players. Where Sony had the killer edge is that its Playstation 3 (PS3) computer games console comes pre-fitted with a Blu-ray player. So as Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 consoles since it was launched in late 2006, that is 10.5 million Blu-ray machines already in...

TOKYO — Toshiba's decision to no longer develop, make or market high-definition HD DVD players and recorders will mean consumers can start feeling more confident about buying the victorious rival technology — a Blu-ray disc player. Analysts say competition is expected to heat up among the manufacturers of Blu-ray players and recorders, which include Japanese makers Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sharp Corp. as well as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea. In making the announcement, Toshiba Corp. President Atsutoshi Nishida said he wanted to avoid confusion among consumers.

We bought a Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR2 LCD television recently. We get "regular" television via a DirecTV receiver. The input to the receiver is coax cable from the satellite, and the output from the receiver (and hence input to the TV) is S video and audio red/white. Question: the family is complaining about the quality of the satellite TV reception. In testing things, I disconnected the satellite receiver and plugged in a VCR. Then I played a pre-recorded videotape. The family looked at the videotape and are happy with the quality. They think the quality of the video is better than...

TOKYO - Sony is dropping its money-losing rear-projection TV business worldwide to focus on two flat panel technologies — liquid crystal display and organic light-emitting diode, the company said Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT Sales of rear-projection TVs had been declining recently as LCD TVs gain in popularity and get bigger, Sony Corp. spokesman Shinji Obana said. In October, Sony lowered its global sales forecast for rear-projection TVs — which uses a projector to create images on large screens — to 400,000 from 700,000, which is down from 1.1 million the previous fiscal year. By contrast, Sony expects to sell 10 million LCD...

We are trying to connect a laptop to our new Sony Bravia TV, model KDF-46XBR2. Both the laptop and the Bravia have an RGB female 15-pin jack, and we have a cable that connects the two. We've read the manual, but it is basically useless. Obviously, we'd like the PC output to display on the TV. Question: what else must we do besides the Fn-F8 to "toggle" the PC display? Which video input (1 through 9) if any does the PC use? Or, does it simply override whatever video is playing at the moment? Thanks.

Wie, who has played in the PGA Tour event at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu every year since 2004, did not receive one of the four sponsor exemptions... she wasn't ready for professional golf. Two of the Sony Open sponsor exemptions will still go to Hawaii teenagers.

Dr Gaurav Khanna is a professor at the University of Massachusetts. He has been renting supercomputers at NASA and the US National Science Foundation for US$20,000-$30,000 a year to run complicated calculations on just how much radiation is emitted in the process of a black hole swallowing a star... "For US$4,000 or so, I can get eight PS3s that can do the same task that I'd do on a supercomputer. For a one-time cost, I have this resource I can use privately. I can use it indefinitely over and over again. That's hugely attractive. That's why I considered the project....

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 1 (Reuters) - A fox-like alien and his robot sidekick on a mission to save the galaxy could also help save sales of Sony's PlayStation 3, which has struggled to find a game so good that it gives people reason to buy the pricey console. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has had several, including this year's "Halo 3," but Sony is still trying to find a megahit of its own as games like "Heavenly Sword" and "Folklore" have failed to make the kind of splash needed to convince holdouts. Now comes "Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction," a...

Duluth, Minnesota — Testimony today in Capitol Records, et al v. Jammie Thomas quickly and inadvertently turned to the topic of fair use when Jennifer Pariser, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, was called to the stand to testify. Pariser said that file-sharing is extremely damaging to the music industry and that record labels are particularly affected. In doing so, she advocated a view of copyright that would turn many honest people into thieves. Pariser noted that music labels make no money on touring, radio, or merchandise, which leaves the company particularly exposed to the negative effects of file-sharing....

Sony can't catch a break after its infamous rootkit scandal back in 2005. In fact, we know from talking to security researchers and black hats alike that Sony is under the careful eye of many as a result of that major screwup. Now, a new story has come out involving Sony's biometric Micro Vault USM-F thumb drive, which apparently contains a rootkit that could potentially allow hackers to compromise users' PCs. The presence of the rootkit was first discovered by F-Secure, and was confirmed by Aditya Kapoor and Seth Purdy, researchers at McAfee, and posted on their blog. FTC finally...

Police: Pa. Boy Stabs Brother Over Game Jul 17 01:16 PM US/Eastern LANSDOWNE, Pa. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy fatally stabbed his brother with a steak knife after the 16-year-old refused to turn over a video game controller, authorities said. Jahmir Ricks was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Antwan Ricks at their home outside Philadelphia. The older boy died of a single stab wound to the chest, police said, and a bent and bloody knife was recovered from the home. Lansdowne police said the younger boy told them, "I just stabbed my brother," when they arrived at...

REPORTS OF A LAPTOP exploding into flames have caused Toshiba to urge its customers to check their packages. Toshiba laid the blame for the flames, that on May 24th, engulfed the British laptop, on a Sony battery pack. Toshiba said it asked Sony to investigate the incident and the firm indeed found that the battery was at fault. It was identified as being on Toshiba's warning list, but had never been replaced. As you should be aware, laptop computers can explode at any second, especially if they have one of the ten million or so dodgy, Sony-built batteries glowing inside....

Canadian encryption vendor Certicom yesterday filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against Sony, claiming that many of the products offered by the electronics giant infringe on two Certicom patents. This might sound like business as usual until you realize what's being targeted: AACS and (by extension) the PlayStation 3. Certicom has done extensive work in elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), and the patents in question build on this work. The patents have already been licensed by groups like the US National Security Agency, which paid $25 million back in 2003 for the right to use 26 Certicom patents, including the two in the...

PlayStation 3 gives Blu-ray disc sales a boost Impact of new console in market "significant" by Amy-Mae Elliott Print | Email | Save | PDF Tags ps3 261 news, 20 reviews Blu-ray 64 news, 3 reviews sony 257 news, 84 reviews >> More tags 23 May 2007 - News from the Blu-ray Disc Association suggests that the impact of PlayStation 3 on sales of Blu-ray Disc movies in North America and Japan after the launch of the console last November has been "significant". Early market data sourced by the association indicates that a similar trend is developing in Western Europe....

Wii on winning spree, scores fourth consecutive win over rivals by Shubha Krishnappa - May 19, 2007 - 2 comments Among the trio of next generation gaming consoles, Nintendo has emerged as the numero uno in April for the fourth consecutive month after selling 360,000 of the popular video game devices in the United States, repeatedly outshining both its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the US video game consoles market. After attaining the top position in the first three months of the year, Nintendo has once again performed exceptionally well by selling nearly four times as...

Wii on winning spree, scores fourth consecutive win over rivals by Shubha Krishnappa - May 19, 2007 - 2 comments Among the trio of next generation gaming consoles, Nintendo has emerged as the numero uno in April for the fourth consecutive month after selling 360,000 of the popular video game devices in the United States, repeatedly outshining both its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the US video game consoles market. After attaining the top position in the first three months of the year, Nintendo has once again performed exceptionally well by selling nearly four times as...

TOKYO — Field Emission Technologies Inc., carved out of Sony Corp. to commercialize field-emission display technology, will demonstrate a prototype FED panel here at Display 2007, scheduled to run April 18-20. Initial commercial offerings are targeted for 2009. FE Technology took over FED development from Sony when it was spun off from the Japanese consumer giant in December. Sony holds a 36.5 percent stake in the company. Tokyo-based carve-out fund Tech Gate Investment is the majority equity holder. Sony undertook FED development in 1998, working with Candescent Technologies Corp. When Candescent filed for bankruptcy in 2004, Canon Inc. purchased the...

Sony really knows how to party. It wasn't enough to have topless ladies at the God of War II European unveiling, they had to go and decapitate a goat and put it on display. Not only that, they invited visitors to stick their hands down the neck, grab out some intestines (not the goat's own, they were procured elsewhere and shoved inside), and eat them. Fantastic. Best yet, the entire thing was documented in their official PlayStation magazine, whose 80,000 print run has been recalled thanks to the stunt. Nice work Sony. Next time, just call it a day after...

Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game. The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company's PlayStation 2 console. Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach. Sickening images of the party have appeared in the company's official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail...

TOKYO, April 12 - Sony Corp. said on Thursday it planned to start selling ultra-thin TVs using organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology this year, aiming to become the first to market with a TV using the promising next-generation display. Several companies are investing in OLED technology because it can produce bright, colourful images and does not require a backlight as do liquid crystal displays (LCDs), allowing for a thinner panel. OLED panels are also said to be energy-efficient and good at reproducing fast-moving images. At a display forum in Tokyo, customers, suppliers and even rival TV makers turned their backs...

In an interview with Martin Matt, from the popular GameIndustry.biz site, Sony UK managing director Ray Maguire calls America "a land of cheap people", while the UK is “a little island where rent and rates are at an absolute premium”. When asked about the high price of the PS3 in PAL areas, especially in the UK (where Sony’s console is currently being sold for GBP 425- US $840- more expensive than anywhere in Europe) this is what Ray Maguire had to say: “If you take what's considered to be the most expensive and the least expensive – consider the US...

I can report today that Jackson will lose his hold on the Beatles catalog and Sony/ATV Music Publishing on May 31, 2008. That date, revealed here for the first time, is known as the "Liquidation Sale" among insiders. [Snip] Selling his half of Sony-ATV back to Sony won’t be so easy for Jackson or so lucrative. According to testimony in various Prescient depositions, Jackson could be charged as much as $250 million “off the top” by Sony for expenses they’ve incurred while running the partnership. That would whittle down his potential $600 million windfall almost by half. A further subtraction...

PS3: difficult stories emerge in run up to Euro launch http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/02/13/ps3_difficult_stories_emerge_in_run_up_to_euro_launch.html [...] More juicy perhaps, is the comment made on a blog named FreeRepublic.com, by EA employee Dr. Andrew Garrett: "My opinion - get the 360 and/or the Wii. Skip the PS3 unless there's a big change in the near future." You can read his full post here. Naturally, anti-Sony zealots are spinning this as 'EA says skip PS3', which means Dr Garrett is probably in a whole heap of trouble. That's the problem with the modern videogame industry and the web - the two are utterly incompatible... Blog culture...

Sure, the PlayStation 3 got off to a rocky start and is now only number 3 in next-gen console sales, but Sony Computer Entertainment claims that things couldn’t be better. Well, it could definitely be better, but in any case, Sony is happy with its current status in the market. NPD sales data reported Thursday that the sale of 243,443 units in North America during the month of January contributed to a record $550 million in revenues. Strong sales of the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable, which earned sales of 299,352 and 210,719 units respectively, was also a major...

SCEA spokesman tells New York Times that Nintendo's new console doesn't belong in the same category as the PlayStation 3. In the past, Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesman Dave Karraker has been fairly critical of his gaming rivals at Microsoft. In September, Karraker called Microsoft's decision to release an HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 that only plays movies "unfortunate," adding that the company's 1080p update for the system wasn't "full HD." Two months later, he slammed Microsoft's decision to offer high-definition movies and TV shows for download over Xbox Live as "a disservice to their consumer base" because...

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Sony Corp. (6758.TO) will reach only 75% of its global target for PlayStation 3 sales this fiscal year through March, according to a Nomura report released Monday. Nomura cut its target for PS3 game units shipped during the period to 4.5 million from 6 million, citing poor sales over the holiday season in North America.

The History of a Nationwide Protest Against The Da Vinci CodeSumming it up: Rallies Take Sony to Task for The Da Vinci CodeA Time for Action—The Da Vinci Code RejectedFor all the Stories Telling the History of this Campaign, Click here  Where We Protested:Click the map below for a state-by-state look at the protest effort See the Protest Pictures   Click here for Photo Gallery Read the Blog of the CampaignClick The Da Vinci Code banner below for a two-week day-by-day account of the campaign's most intense days. Da Vinci Code Chronicle: Get the Arguments Against The Da Vinci...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- We all know the new Nintendo Wii is the number one present to give this holiday season. You've heard the stories of those who camp out in front of stores the night before shipments come in, or those who pay double the cost on eBay. It's obvious that people will do almost anything to get their hands on this hot new item. I found myself waiting for a Nintendo Wii one late afternoon. A massive shipment had just come in that morning and the line didn't look too unbearable, so I decided to wait and try...

TOKYO — The new PlayStation 3 isn't all about entertainment. That's the message Sony Corp. (SNE) is trying to convey in announcing that the new game consoles — as powerful as supercomputers — can help Stanford University researchers analyze complex human protein structures and perhaps find cures for cancer, Alzheimer's disease and other ailments.

TOKYO (AP) -- Sony said Friday it found a defect in some of its popular Cyber-shot compact digital cameras and offered to repair affected cameras free of charge. The liquid crystal display screens of eight camera models might not display images correctly, images could be distorted or cameras might not take photos at all, Sony Corp. said in a statement. Affected are eight Cyber-shot models sold between September 2003 and January 2005 in Japan and in a similar period globally, according to Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. Sony will repair for free only cameras that show signs of the problems, Kitsukawa...

A furious Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed yesterday to bill Sony Corp. for the chaos that swirled around the release of its PlayStation 3 machine after Boston police had to quell crowds grown frenzied and unruly by the hype surrounding the coveted consoles. “We had to rush in 12 police cars with officers there and take them off the streets of our city where they’re doing their patrols, to squelch the crowd that we had there,” Menino said, referring to a throng of 500 at Copley Place. “It’s something that should not be tolerated,” he said. “It’s wrong to take...

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards acknowledged Thursday that amid his criticism of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a volunteer member of his staff asked the world's largest retailer for help obtaining a hot new Sony Playstation 3 for Edwards' family. Edwards, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, told The Associated Press that the volunteer "feels terrible" about seeking the game unit at Wal-Mart while his boss claims the retailer doesn't treat its employees fairly. "My wife, Elizabeth, wanted to get a Playstation3 for my young children. She mentioned it in front of one of my staff people. That staff person mentioned it...

TOKYO — Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, which went on sale in Japan over the weekend leading off a global launch, can't play some of the older games for the original PlayStation and the upgrade PlayStation 2, a company official said today. Sony Corp. had billed PlayStation 3 as compatible with the previous PlayStation machines. But Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said some of the 8,000 older games weren't working properly on PS3, making the wrong sounds or images, and some couldn't be played at all. He declined to give a number for the games that weren't functioning, but...

At the Sony Gamer's Day, the company officially announced the 21 launch titles for the Playstation 3 to be released before the end of 2006: Third-Party Publisher Titles: Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII / Ubisoft Call of Duty 3 / Activision EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 / Electronic Arts The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion / Bethesda Softworks F.E.A.R. / Vivendi Universal Games Full Auto 2: Battlelines / Sega Madden NFL 07 / Electronic Arts Marvel: Ultimate Alliance / Activision Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire / Namco Bandai Games NBA 2K7 / 2K Sports Need For Speed Carbon / Electronic Arts...

Mercury Computer Systems will help will design a system for soldiers in the battlefield utilizing gaming and artificial intelligence technologies, a Mercury executive said Thursday. The project is the latest to tout alternate uses for the Cell Broadband Engine processor, originally developed by Sony and IBM for use in the PlayStation3 console. Working with visualization experts Barco Federal Systems and the Ft. Huachuca Battle Lab in Arizona, Mercury, based in Chelmsford, Mass., will help create a computer system that will give fighters such as soldiers, pilots, and seamen better ways to sense and interpret data—and to act on it. The...

The PlayStation 3 launch is now just over six weeks away, and Sony Corp. stockholders are apparently getting nervous. Today, the Japanese electronic giant's share price slid 130 yen ($1.11) to 4,600 yen ($38.98) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, a decline of 2.75 percent.... Another Tokyo-based analyst, Macquarie Equities' David Gibson, went one step further. He issued a report expressing concern that many of the 200-plus PS3s on the floor of the Tokyo Game Show "operated erratically and had to be repeatedly reset," according to the AP. "While the reason for this is unknown, we suspect it may be due...

TOKYO (AP) -- Sony urged a dozen laptop computer makers Friday to recall more of its batteries that could overheat, the latest headache for the electronics company struggling to regain its luster as the world's premier electronics brand. With two new recalls announced Friday, the number of lithium-ion batteries that are being replaced now stands at about 7 million worldwide, Sony spokesman Takashi Uehara said. He refused to estimate how much it would cost the company.Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. were the latest to tell customers to return batteries. A day earlier, IBM Corp. and Lenovo Group announced a recall...

Tokyo, Japan, Sept 28, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Sony Corporation will initiate a global replacement program for certain battery packs that utilize Sony-manufactured lithium ion cells used by notebook computer manufacturers in order to address concern related to recent over-heating incidents. Sony always strives to deliver the highest level of satisfaction to its customers and all consumers. We believe that this program is in the best interest of both our customers and all consumers. Sony is discussing this plan with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and will coordinate with other government authorities as required. We will announce...

Books have been the orphan in the digital world. Music has the iPod. Video has YouTube. Books have, well, Amazon.com, where you can buy them printed on paper. Of course, there are electronic books available for download at Amazon and elsewhere, but they haven't really caught on. Sony Corp. however is now tackling part of the problem with the U.S. launch of the first e-book reader that imitates the look of paper by using innovative screen technology. Is this the iPod for books? Not quite. But it is a step forward. The Sony Reader is a handsome affair the size...

TOKYO — Toshiba is recalling 340,000 laptop batteries worldwide made by Sony Corp. (SNE), the latest in a series of problems for the company.... ....The problems are found in some of the battery packs for Dynabook and Satellite laptop models manufactured by Tokyo-based Toshiba from March through May this year, and they will be replaced for free, he said.